One month ago yesterday, Alberto Nisman, Argentina’s special prosecutor investigating the country’s worst terrorist attack, was found dead of a gunshot wound to his head. To commemorate his mysterious death, a group of prosecutors held a pro-Nisman “march of silence” that brought thousands of people to the streets in Buenos Aires despite the inclement weather. […]
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When it comes to Cuba, the United States is finally catching up to Latin America and the rest of the world. Heads of state throughout Latin America have praised President Obama’s announcement Wednesday that Washington and Havana hope to restore diplomatic relations in the near future. December 17, 2014, will forever be the historic day when the Cold War’s last outpost in the Western Hemisphere began to crumble. After more than half a century of a highly restrictive policy toward Cuba that ranged from an economic embargo to prohibiting most travel by U.S. citizens to the island, the United States has finally admitted the policy’s failure.
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Latin America has had a long series of leaders who have exercised power on a very personal level. Some have led by force, others by charisma or a mixture of both, including Porfirio Díaz of Mexico, Rafaél Trujillo of the Dominican Republic, Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua, Juan Perón of Argentina, Evo Morales of Bolivia, and […]
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The Baker Institute Latin America Initiative (LAI) recently hosted a lecture and panel discussion on the critical connection between a secure Central America and a prosperous Western Hemisphere. The participants included former Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein Barillas, who discussed current conditions in the region; Virginia Trujillo of the global utilities company AES El Salvador, who explored how insecurity undermines economic growth and opportunities for public-private cooperation; and Thomas W. Ward of the University of Southern California, who examined the role of transnational gangs.
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The recent announcement by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, that the organization would stop kidnapping for ransom is a cause for celebration and renewed hope. Although the FARC’s drug trafficking and illegal gold mining operations still generate violence across Colombia, this is clearly a firm step toward reopening the possibility of peace talks in a country torn by decades of internal conflict.
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The continuous failure of legislators to act on a sensible comprehensive immigration reform perpetuates the broken immigration system the U.S. has in place. In the meantime, the Obama administration has taken a step in the right direction.
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Official White House Photo/Pete Souza President Barack Obama waves to the people gathered on the street outside the Cidade de Deus (City of God) favela Community Center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, March 20, 2011. When President Barack Obama took office in 2009, Latin Americans’ hopes and expectations of their neighbor to the North […]
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This week, voters in California rejected Proposition 19, which would have legalized the production, sale and use of small quantities of marijuana by people 21 or older. Opposition to the proposal had come from many corners, including the Mexican and Colombian government. How, the presidents of both countries argued, could they send peasant farmers in […]
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The mission of the nonpartisan James A. Baker III Institute for Public
Policy is to help bridge the gap between theory and practice of public
policy by drawing together experts from academic, government, media, business
and nongovernmental organizations. By involving policymakers, scholars
and students, the institute seeks to improve the debate on selected public
policy issues and to make a difference in the formulation, implementation and
evaluation of public policy. The institute’s more than 20 programs, which include research, speaking series, events and special projects, have helped attract a host of prominent leaders who provide their views and insights on key issues.